Chris Brown a double winner in 800 and 1,500 as Judges place seventh at UAAs

Chris Brown '12 (photo by Sportspix)

Apr 29, 2012

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Brandeis men's track and field team produced two championships and two other runner-up performances today at the 2012 University Athletic Association championships hosted by Carnegie Mellon University. The Judges finished in seventh place with 59 points, just five behind sixth-place NYU.

As he has all season, senior Chris Brown (No. Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) led the way for the Brandeis men. Brown staked a claim to the meet's outstanding performer by winning the 800-meter and 1,500-meter runs at the same meet. In the 800, Brown ran the fastest time in the prelims at 1:55.31, 0.68 seconds ahead of CMU's Thomas Vandenberg. Brown then bested Vandenberg in the finals with a time of 1:57.69, winning by 0.73 seconds. In the 1,500, Brown, who owns the nation's third-fastest Division III time of the season, won the race by a relatively comfortable margin of two seconds ahead of Emory's Stephen Ellwood with a time of 3:55.97. The UAA titles are Brown's second and third of 2012, after winning the indoor title in the mile run.

The men had two other runners earn All-UAA honors. Sophomore Vincent Asante (Bronx, N.Y./H.S. for Arts, Imagination and Inquiry) wasn't able to defend his title in the 100-meters by the slimmest of margins. Seeded third head into the meet, Asante won his preliminary heat with a season-best time of 11.14 seconds, the fastest time of the prelims by three-hundredths of a second. In the finals, Asante ran 11.20 seconds, but was edged at the tape by Chicago's Demetrious Brizzolara, who posted a time of 11.19 seconds, winning by one-hundredth of a second. Asante, a four-time All-UAA runner, also scored a point for the Judges in the 200-meter dash, finishing in eighth place in 23.56 seconds. Also claiming his first All-UAA honor was sophomore Ed Colvin (Roslindale, Mass./Catholic Memorial School), who was the runner-up in the 5,000-meter run. His time of 15:18.90 was about 2.75 seconds behind winner Josh Newby.

Five other individuals scored points for the Judge men. Just missing All-Association honors for the second season in a row was rookie Jeffrey Maser (Livingston, N.J./Morristown-Beard School), finishing fourth in the high jump at six-feet even, two inches out of an All-UAA honor – the same margin as in the indoor season. Fellow rookies Jonathan Gilman (Yardley, Pa./George School) and Jacob Wilhoite (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) placed fifth and seventh, respectively, in the javelin throw with distances of 160 feet, nine inches, and 153-11. Sophomore Kensai Hughes (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley) added a sixth-place finish in the long jump, leaping 20 feet,7 ¼ inches. Junior Mik Kern (Groton, N.Y./Groton) joined Brown in scoring in the 800, finishing seventh with a time of 1:59.80, improving by one after running 1:56.70 in the prelims. Brandeis's top relay was the fifth-place 4x100-meter team of Maser, Hughes, junior Josh Hoffman-Senn (Swampscott, Mass./Gann Academy) and Asante, who finished in 44.42 seconds.